Monday, 9 March 2015

Apple-Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Lately, I have been working a lot of night shifts. I don't usually mind it, but I do find I crave really unhealthy snacks - chips, chocolate, candy, yum yum yum - when I'm up all night. I totally support indulging occasionally, but working 2+ night shifts a week, this snack pattern has been seriously impacting my diet, and my waistband, in a baaad way. So I decided I was going to bake a little something to take with me that was a little sweet, but also pretty healthy.

I started out with a banana bread recipe I found in one of my handwritten cookbooks. Its a great recipe that I've made many times before, but sometimes plain ol' banana bread is a little boring. So, I added in some oatmeal, diced Gala apple, and baked it in a muffin tin, and created a breakfast feel - exactly what I was looking for! For a little something extra, I added streusel on top - just enough sweetness to trick my brain into thinking it's getting some of the candy it so craves at 3am. This recipe is a win-win in my books and I couldn't be happier!

INGREDIENTS

Muffin base

- 1.25 cups flour

- 0.5 cup unpacked brown sugar

- 0.5 teaspoon salt

- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda

- 0.25 teaspoon baking powder

- 3 teaspoons canola oil (or other mild oil)

- 1 large egg, beaten

- 2 large egg whites, beaten

- 3 large bananas, ripe

- 1 medium size apple

- 1 cup uncooked oats

Streusel topping

- 0.25 cup unpacked brown sugar

- 2 tablespoons flour

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 0.5 teaspoon nutmeg

- Chopped walnuts, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. To make the muffin base, stir together flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add in oil, egg whites, and whole egg.

3. In a smaller bowl, mash bananas. Core the apple, and finely dice. Add banana, apple, and oatmeal to batter.

4. To make the streusel topping, stir together all ingredients (sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts) in a small bowl. Set aside.

5. Spray muffin tin with baking spray (my favorite is Wilton's Bake Easy non-stick spray). Pour batter into cups; you can fill cups right to the top as this batter doesn't tend to rise much in the oven. Top each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of streusel.

6. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

7. Remove muffins from the oven, and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and allow to cool for another 10 minutes on a wire rack.

Now go on, whip up a batch for yourself, and enjoy the deliciousness you just created!

Have a favorite healthy, tasty treat you love to enjoy? I'd love to hear about it! Leave me a comment below!